The Chronicles
by TheRedShadowOfSecrets
Summary: A Crystal Cronicles Story with love and weird plot twists. Year 1: The caravan is now on River Belle Path!
1. Chapter 1

**This is an FFCC story. And as much as I'd like to, I don't have any rights to the game ( which is sadly under rated and more or less, unknown :( )**

Once, long ago, the world of Clavats, Lilties, Yukes, and Selkies was pure and good. But the coming of a meteor foretold grave times, as the world was quickly swallowed by a poisonous cloud of Miasma. The people learned that they could keep the Miasma at bay by constructing large crystals that received their power from Myrrh – a rare substance that is found only in a Myrrh Tree.

Since then, towns and villages all over the world have recruited members for a caravan – a position of great importance and responsibility. Each year, caravans set out from villages all over the world in a quest to find the Myrrh that will power their crystals and hold off the Miasma for another season. The dangers are legion – monsters of all shapes and sizes have sprung up since the Miasma took hold, including massive creatures that guard each and every tree. Only the strongest and most capable are able to join caravans, for if they fall, their friends, families, and homes will all fall with them.

***This opening has been taken from the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Player's Guide. And yes, this game does have a players guide, to those who didn't know. It s very helpful.**

A Selkie family of four made their way through the tiny village known as Tipa. It was a cute town with a near perfect mix of all four tribes living there. It seemed like the perfect place to raise the Selkie couple's children: a friendly place where the tribes live together in peace, even if the village leader, Roland, is a Clavat. Besides, it was hard to find a town that would want a Selkie for an Alchemist.

Eventually, the family came to a two story house with a red, pointed roof in the corner of town, yet near the crystal that sat in a setting of stone stairs, and right next door to Roland's house. It was private, yet not too far away from everyone.

"I hope this house is to your liking," Roland said as he opened the door for the excited family.

"It's wonderful. Thank you," Nalk-Sae replied as he helped his wife, Zala-Ja, into the home.

"I don't know what we would've done if this baby decided to pop out while we were on the road," she smiled as she rubbed her eight month pregnant stomach.

"Kids, why don't you go explore town for me and your mom?" Nalk-Sae offered as he knelt down to look his children in their eyes. "Your mom and I'll set up shop here."

"Okay, Dad," Know-Nim said smiling. He took his little sister's hand. "Come on, Moroka!" he told her as he dragged her out of the house.

Know-Nim was eight years old, the eldest. His Sister calls him Know-It-All. His sister's name is Moroka-Nal, and this is her story.

Moroka was six when her family finally settled down in Tipa. It was a relief, too. Her family had been moving from place to place since she was three. People don't take to kindly to Selkies nowadays. Her brother was her only friend during that time. He was her guardian, too. He always defended her whenever she was being picked on or bullied, or even if he heard someone talking badly about her ( or even the whole Selkie race for that matter ). He would always say "If you're going to talk bad about someone, at least make sure they won't be able to hear you!"

As the two ran around town, they came across some other kids playing with a ball by the crystal. There were six of them in total, two Lilties, a boy and a girl, two Clavats, one boy and one girl, a male Yuke, and a Selkie boy. They all seemed to be in the same age group.

"Guys, look!" the Lilty boy yelled as he pointed towards Know and Moroka.

"They must be the Alchemist's kids," the Yuke said.

"Well, I'm glad that there's finally another Selkie family here besides mine," the Selkie said as he walked up to the siblings. "I'm Frey-Ko."

Frey-Ko had long, messy, gray hair that most Selkies tend to have, Moroka has it, too. He wore a gray tunic that was made out of fur that all Selkies like to wear with the oddly designed sandals. And, like all males of their race, had a tattoo of the Selkie tribe symbol on their forearm.

"I'm Know-Nim," Know told everyone. Know looked a lot like Frey except his hair was cut short and a sea foam green color.

"And I'm Moroka-Nal," the small, female Selkie announced. Moroka wore a top that was made out of fur that showed off her belly with yellow sleeves that matched her skirt with black leggings and sandals.

"My name is Alexander. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the Yuke said as he introduced himself like a nobleman. He wore dark green clothing with gold trim. He wore bronze shoes and a helmet that had a single horn sprouting from the top of it.

"I'm Nathaniel, and this is my cousin, Serenity," the Lilty boy said, " But everyone calls me Nate." He was the oddest Lilty that Moroka had ever seen. Despite having heavy Lilty armor only his arms, hands, and legs, like most Lilties have, he wore a bucket as a helmet with orange Lilty hair sticking up out of the top.

"How do you do?" the Lilty girl asked politely. This Lilty looked like a normal Lilty. Armor protected her hands, shoulders, and feet. Her hair stuck up on top of her head and gradually spread out to drop just below her cheekbones.

"I'm Charter," the Clavat boy said. Moroka felt her face heat up as he introduced himself. He had blond hair that stood up on end and he wore so much green in typical Clavat clothing. She felt her heart rate quicken and she could feel it thump-thump-thumping against her ribcage.

"And I'm Ashton," the Clavat girl said with confidence as she gestured to herself with her thumb. She seemed a bit odd. She had dark and short hair under her light green hat that matched the rest of her clothing. Moroka could see the fire of confidence blazing in her eyes. She walked over to Moroka.

"Don't worry," she said as she placed a hand on the young Selkie's shoulder, "You'll be well looked after. And if you have any problems at all, let us know."

That sounded a bit odd to Know.

"What kind of problems?" he asked.

"Who are you?" a harsh-sounding voice demanded.

All of the kids frowned and turned in the direction of the voice. It was a Clavat boy who looked to be in the same age group as the rest of them. He had straight, brown hair with a brown headband that covered his forehead that matched the rest of the brown clothing that he was wearing.

"Um... Hi," Moroka said nervously, "I'm Moroka-Nal, and this is my brother, Know-Nim. Our family just moved into town a few minutes ago. Our dad's the new Alchemist. Feel free to stop by anytime you-"

Poor Moroka never got to finish that sentence. A rock came flying and hit her right above her eye. The same rock bounced off her head and chipped the town's crystal. Blood drizzled down the side of Moroka's face. Charter was at her side in an instant. Ashton, Serenity, and the other two Selkies stood in front of her protectively, anger flaring in her brother's eyes.

"What the hell, you little bastard?" Know yelled in fury.

"She didn't do anything to you!" Ashton yelled, "So just leave her alone!"

"It's bad enough that one Selkie family's in town, we don't need another one!" the Clavat yelled, "I hate Selkies!"

"I'm sure that they hate you, too!" Serenity snapped, "You jerk! You're so stupid! You're not just mean to Selkies! You hate all of us!"

"Only because you enjoy the company of thieves, you mutt-lovers!" the Clavat yelled back.

Frey snapped after that. He charged at the Clavat, teeth bared and fists ready. The Clavat charged right back. They collided with each other and began to throw punches wildly. They kicked, punched, scratched, bit, and called each other various things that shouldn't be in a seven year old's vocabulary. The other kids watched the whole scene in shock and disbelief, Moroka more so than others. No matter what city or town they went to, no one had physically injured her before. She put her hand to her face and brought it back down to see the warm, red, coppery-smelling liquid. She felt her face heat up and her eyes begin to water and let out a sob.

Know then stomped over to the scene. Although he was only eight at the time, he looked big for his age. He easily looked at least ten. He used this advantage to pry the two boys apart.

"Listen, because I'm only going to say this once," Know spat as he held the young Clavat harshly by the collar of his shirt, "You stay away from me and my sister. If I see you anywhere near her or if I hear that you've been bullying her, I'll find you and beat the crap out of you!" He shoved the boy roughly to the ground. "Now get out of here!"

The boy got up and walked away, fuming in anger as he cast a dirty look full of hatred over his shoulder. Know turned back to the other kids.

"Who the hell was that?" he demanded.

"The problem I was talking about," Ashton answered.

"His name is Mathew. He's the Rancher's son," Alexander explained.

"He hates basically everyone," Nate added,"But this is the first time any of us have seen him take it this far."

"Hey, hey, hey, come on, no crying," Charter persuaded Moroka to stop crying, but still letting out an occasional sob. "I'll take you to my house and fix that eye of yours."

Moroka nodded in agreement and picked herself off the ground, letting Charter take her hand and lead her to his house.

Later that night, Moroka sat in her new room, blushing and thinking about how Charter patched up her eye. She reached her hand up and felt the bandage. Obviously her parents knew of the incident both by her eye and Know telling them.

She was brought out of her thoughts as a stone hit the window. She got up from where she was sitting, walked over and pulled the window open. She first noticed the box sitting on the window still. She picked it up and opened it to find the piece of crystal that chipped off from when the rock hit the town's crystal. It was woven into a necklace, with glass beads. She looked around until she saw Charter standing below her and looking up with a smile on his face before he turned and walked away from the house.

**Yay, it's finally done! :D the first chapter. Just so you guys know, I am going to TRY to update about once every week or so. That is, if school isn't being a total bitch or if anything else comes up.**

**Bye-bye!**

**-Red**

**Also, in the next chapter they HAVE started on their journey. I just wanted to make that perfectly clear to anyone who may think that this story only takes place in Tipa. It does NOT only take place in Tipa, they go to the dungeons and battle monsters and get myrrh for their tree.**

**And I also accept and welcome anonymous reviews, just no flames.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm starting a new chapter early, I was just so excited! :3 In this chapter the gang finally sets out into the world in search of Myrrh. Yay!**

**And in case I didn't fix it right, Moroka is the daughtor of the ALCHEMIST, not the tailor, I didn't notice before I published it because I am stupid! :P But it should be fixed now that i reuploaded it.**

**But enjoy anyway! :) **

It's been five years since Moroka-Nal's family moved into the town of Tipa. The Selkie family loved it there. It had gotten even better since Know and Moroka's new little brother, Jay-Gal, came into the world. He was a playful little tyke. He had spiky, greenish-blue hair that he kept tied in a ponytail, and he wore just the bottom half of a fur tunic. He liked to run around town barefoot, like many young Selkies like to do.

She had made many kind friends, too.

One of which belonged to the other Selkie family in town. His name was Frey-Ko, the son of the Miller. He was twelve years old at the start of their journey, just one year older than Moroka. He was a little trickster when he wanted to be, a common Selkie trait, but for the most part he was kind and protective, like another older brother.

Then there was Nathaniel, or Nate, as he preferred to be called. He was the son of the Blacksmith, and he was also twelve years old. He wasn't like any Lilty Moroka had ever seen. Besides the bucket helmet, he was a spaz. He freaked out and worried over everything, when Moroka first got her eye fixed up, he ran over to her, crying and asking if she was alright, both physically and mentally. But he was a real sweetie.

And the other Lilty, Serenity. She was the daughter of the Merchant, cousin to Nate, and only ten years old. Half of the time, she was kind, polite, reasonable, and calm, but at random times she went bipolar and became stubborn, angry, fearless, and she yelled. A LOT. It scared the other kids half to death when it happened.

Then there was the lone Yuke family in town, the town Tailors. Their son, Alexander, was fourteen, the eldest of the group. He was so smart and knowledgeable, even if he stays quiet most of the time. Although he has been known to crack a joke or two on occasion.

Ashton was the daughter of the Farmer. She was eleven back then. She was definitely the most outspoken and confident of the group. She was definitely the leader to the group, however she has the sense of direction of a boot. She also has the potential to kick every boy in towns' ass to the moon and back only to repeat the process three times over.

Moroka's heart fluttered when she thought of Charter. He was thirteen and the Fisherman's son. He was so kind and considerate. He was always the first person to help if someone was in trouble. And he knew exactly what to do to make someone feel better, Moroka's necklace proved that. She wore it every hour of every day. It was her treasure.

And then...there was Mathew...

She still remembered the first day that she and her brother met him. How he threw a rock at her and left a scar, a barely visible scar, but a scar nonetheless. Since then, he only relied on avoiding and glaring at her to get his point across. She was, admittedly, a bit afraid of him.

But for the most part, Mathew is one big mystery to all the kids. Moroka only knew that he was two years older than her, he was the Rancher's son, and that he hated Selkies. He doesn't even talk to the other kids unless he has to or if he's forced to. And Moroka's perfectly fine with that.

But they were all chosen to be part of the caravan together. So either they can tolerate Mathew, or Mathew can open up a little bit.

"This sucks!" Know-Nim cried, "I'm the big brother! She shouldn't have to go!"

"I'll be fine, you Know-It-All," Moroka promised.

"Just remember, Moroka," her father, Nalk-Sae, said to her, "being in a caravan is a serious responsibility. If you don't bring back Myrrh, the town's crystal will fail to protect us from the Miasma. You understand the seriousness of the situation?"

"Yes. Yes, sir," Moroka replied

"Be sure to write home about all the cute boys you'll meet," her mother, Zala-Ja told her.

"Mom!" Moroka cried as she turned red.

"Is Mowoka gonna get a boyfwiend?" Jay-Gal asked.

"Of course not," Nalk-Sae answered, "None of those little creeps in the world are good enough to be with my daughter."

Moroka sighed.

"Yeah, okay, Dad. I have to go, see you in a year! Bye!" she called back as she left.

"Stay away from boys in the cities!" Nalk-Sae yelled as she ran off to join her caravan, "No, wait! Stay away from all of them! They're all horn-dogs! We love you!"

Moroka ran down past the Rancher's house and came to the old bridge. She found the others there waiting for her with the caravan ready to set off. Moroka was intrigued by the blue creature thet was ready to pull the cart.**( someone please tell me what those things are called )**

"It's about damn time," a familiar harsh voice said. Moroka turned to see Mathew scowling at her. "Lets get going before the crystal dies."

Frey placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't listen to him," he said as he glared at the headband wearing Clavat.

"Alright," Ashton said as she clapped her hands together, "Alex gets to drive, and the girls get to ride in the cart."

"Wait, why do we have to walk?" Nate complained as the girls piled into the cart.

Ashton looked at him sternly.

"And I thought you were a gentleman," she said as she shook her head in mock disappointment.

"But-"

"Just drop it. You won't win," Alexander stated as he got up and took he reins.

And with a flick of the reins, the cart started to move. The caravan was setting out. Moroka looked at the diary entry that she wrote the night before, too excited to wait for the others, but went back to town in order to say goodbye to her family properly.

_ "The morning of my departure was here at last. I tried to brace myself for the journey ahead. There was a field along the main road where I decided to camp until sunrise. Tomorrow I set out in search of myrrh."_

**Yay! Chapter two is done! I can't wait to start chapter three. Oh, and here are the character designs from the game:**

**Moroka-Nal -Female-Selkie-Wolfie**

**Frey-Ko-Male-Selkie-Wolfie**

**Charter-Male-Clavat-Cowlick**

**Ashton-Female-Clavat-Short Hair**

**Mathew-Male-Clavat-Headband**

**Nathaniel (Nate)-Male-Lilty-Bucket Head**

**Serenity-Female-Lilty-Bare Head**

**Alexander-Male-Yuke-One Horn**

** And now you know.**

** Bye!**

** -Red**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy late Valentine's Day, everybody! :3**

**Hopefully you'll cheer up if you're forever alone...like me... T-T**

**Here's a new chapter!**

The caravan had been traveling for about two hours. Alexander, Charter, and Nate were talking up at the front of the caravan as the Yuke held the reins. Mathew was keeping his distance by staying at least five feet behind the caravan at all times. The girls were chatting happily about how excited they were about traveling and embarrassing each other about getting boyfriends in various cities and towns. However, Frey was nowhere to be seen. They began to worry that he may be planning one of his tricks.

"So, I was thinking that maybe we could just ditch Mathew in Marr's Pass or something," Ashton said with a little too much excitement. "We'll just get up really early and leave before he wakes up."

"I don't know, Ashton. Ranchers wake up very early. We would have to wake far before dawn if we want to leave him behind," Serenity replied, thinking locally.

"Why do we have to talk about ditching anyone?" Moroka asked. "I mean, yeah, he's been a jerk to me since we met, but we all have to get along if we want to get myrrh for our crystal."

Ashton sighed in disappointment.

"I guess you're right," she said, "Maybe we should take this time to think of a way to finally get back at Frey for all the crap he's pulled over the years."

"Ha!" a not so distant voice laughed out.

"What was that?" Serenity asked.

"...Oh shit," the voice replied.

"_Frey?_" Moroka asked,"Frey, is that you?"

"Uh...I'm a Moogle," the voice answered.

Ashton opened the top of a water barrel to find their missing Selkie friend hiding within.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Frey's eyes darted around before looking back up at her.

"What are _you_ doing?" he replied.

"I asked you first," Ashton stated, looking annoyed.

A pause.

"Or did you?" Frey asked.

"_Get out!_" Serenity yelled viciously before chucking the whole barrel out of the back of the caravan. They all heard a scared squeak from Nate. Mathew mumbled something about 'stupid Selkies' as the barrel broke open with a dizzy-looking Frey trying to stand up.

"Hail, fellow caravanners!" a voice from the side of the road called.

Alexander pulled on the reins, stopping the caravan. The girls popped their heads out of the cart to see who called out to them. The suspects were a band of Lilties in a full, complete set of armor.

"You are the caravan from Tipa, are you not?" one of the Lilties asked, the same Lilty that called out to them. "I heard they were sending out a new caravan. You seem Quite capable."

"Yeah, that's us," Charter answered.

"And may we ask who you are?" Alexander asked plitely.

"My name is Sol Racht," the Lilty said with pride, "I am captain of the caravan from the great fortress at Alfitaria. Our caravan boats a history that stretches back thousands of years...But let us discuss that another time."

"Stiltzkin!" he called as he turned to his men. "Do you have a moment? This is the caravan from Tipa. Come on, say hello."

A large Moogle with clothes and a backpack waddled over. All of the caravanners' mouths dropped open.

"Allow me to introduce Stiltzkin," Sol Racht said, "He may not look it, but he is a seasoned adventurer."

"No, I'm just a Moogle that likes to get around," the Moogle replied modestly,"I'm on my way somewhere right now, but I can teach you a thing or two if you like."

Frey shook his head, breaking out of his shock.

"Good God! I was told Moogles have the metabolisms of rodents! How is he so fat!" he yelled in astonishment.

"Oh, hello. I'm Stiltzkin. I'm the one who doesn't judge you on your appearance."

** *Anyone get that reference? :)**

Nate's mouth practically dropped to the ground after that. The poor little guy was probably having a small panic attack.

"I apologize on behalf of Frey, but we are perfectly capable of learning things on our own," Charter said.

"I highly recommend you accept his offer," Sol Racht said.

"Yes, you wouldn't want to miss out!" a different Lilty agreed.

"_We said NO!_" Serenity yelled.

Ashton slapped a hand over her mouth before she could say anymore.

"We are so sorry!" Moroka told them in a panic, "Please ignore her, she's bipolar."

"Anyway, we don't need your help," Mathew said, speaking for the first time since they left Tipa.

"Very well. I'm sure they know what they're doing," Stiltzkin replied.

"Be careful out there. You don't want to get in over your head," Sol Racht warned.

"But at least let Mog carry the chalice for you," one of the other Lilties offered.

"Let me carry the chalice for you, kupo!" a little Moogle begged as he flew over in an excited frenzy.

"He's...so cute," Ashton said as the Tipa caravan looked up at him.

"Let's let him, he seems so desperate," Nate added.

"Well... I suppose it couldn't hurt," Alexander said.

"Oh, thank you, kupo! I'll do my best, kupo!" Mog yelled excitedly as he flew around happily.

"Farewell, caravanners! Let us cross paths again!" Sol Racht called out as they left.

Moroka took out her journal and began to write.

_'Not far from the village, someone called to us._

_The man introduced himself as Sol Racht, leader of the caravan from Alfitaria._

_It seems that news of our caravan had already reached them._

_They showed us much kindness, and a moogle named Stiltzkin tried to give us a lesson in combat.'_

** Yay! Chapter 3 is done! But the next chapter will be longer. Why? Because they caravan will be entering the first dugeon! I need to write in a lot of stuff.**

**I'm sorry that this chapter was relativly short, but the next one WILL be a lot longer, I promise. :)**

**I accept anonymous reviews, so if I am doing something wrong or if you want to see something added, if you want to request something to happen on their travels or if you just want to voice your opinion, let me know.**

**-Red**


	4. Chapter 4

** People, please send a review! :(**

** I am SURE that there is SOMETHING wrong with my writing. I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IT IS! I do accept anonymous reviews, so please submit one. But no flames, please. :3**

It had been one week since the caravan had set out on their travels. They all took turns at who got to ride in the caravan, who had to hold the reins, and who had to walk. However, Mathew always walked five feet behind the caravan, only speaking when required to or to make a snide remark. When they camped, he stayed far away from the campfire. They knew that he must have been freezing, but he would not accept any of their invitations to join them by the fire.

They thought that Clavats were supposed to be humble, like Charter.

Right when Ashton and Frey were about to snap from boredom, the caravan came to a stop.

"Whats going on?" Nate asked, jumping out of the caravan.

"Why have we stopped?" Serenity asked.

"We're at our first stop," Alexander explained as he pointed to the map,"River Belle Path"

"YES!" Ashton cried with joy,"Finally, some action!"

"Everyone, get your gear!" Frey said with excitement as he grabbed his racket out of the caravan.

"Huh...," Moroka shrugged. "This place doesn't look very threatening."

"But look at the chalice," Alexander said, "The crystal is reacting to it."

They all looked over at Mog. The chalice in his paws looked too much for the little fur ball to carry, but he somehow managed to pull it off. The tiny that was protecting them from the Miasma was flickering slightly, a sign that a myrrh tree was nearby and ready to give a drop of the liquid that would help protect their town for another year.

But...it was hard to imagine that a myrrh tree was somewhere by the river, which might as well be called a creek because of the low level of water. The caravan had heard rumors about how gigantic, foul creatures guarded every tree, yet there wasn't even a Mu in sight. The place could actually be considered peaceful. The trees provided nice shade, the grass was green enough, birds were chirping happily, and there was a gentile breeze that tickled their noses.

"I don't want to believe it, but there is a myrrh tree around here, the crystal proves it," Charter said.

"Then lets get moving and stop gaping at the scenery," Mathew snapped, "Lets just get the damn myrrh and get out. I don't want to be here longer than I have to."

"But how can you not enjoy the sights?" Serenity asked as Mathew began to walk off with his sword and shield, "This place is absolutely gorgeous!"

Mathew stopped suddenly. His eyes narrowed.

"Until you see a Goblin around the corner," he said.

The rest of the group walked over to where the unfriendly Clavat was peering around a pile of moss-covered rocks. In the middle of the road was a Goblin, probably waiting for unsuspecting caravaners to kill before letting them get to the tree. Obviously, they weren't very smart. They watched it with disgust. It's red skin was covered in mud and dirt. It's large, pointed ears had clumps of yellow ear wax falling from them. And it's overly large nose had disgusting, green mucus dripping from it in great glops.

"Ew..." Ashton simply said.

"What do we do?" Nate whispered as he trembled while holding his spear tightly.

"_AAAAAHHHHHH_!" Serenity cried as she charged at the monster, swinging her spear wildly, yet accurately, slicing the Goblin into many gory pieces.

"Note to self: stay away from Serenity when she's armed," Alexander said.

The group moved out from behind the rocks.

"Serenity is scary, kupo!" Mog said nervously.

"Yeah, you get used to it," Moroka replied, "She's actually really nice most of the time."

Mog looked at her.

"You aren't like any Selkie I've ever met, kupo," he said.

"Ah!" Nate yelled in fear, "Hedgehog Pies!"

"I got it!" Charter confirmed as he ran up to the Hedgehog as it began to cast a fire spell on where he stood just a second ago. He slashed the monster with his sword and bashed it with his shield, exhibiting prime Clavat swordsmanship. Moroka could only watch in awe, not minding the other Moblins and Hedgehogs that were quickly taken care of by the other members of the caravan.

Alexander nudged the Selkie in the arm.

"You're drooling," he said with the tiniest bit of humor.

Moroka quickly wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, feeling her face heat up as if on fire.

"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Frey called from the rocky shore of the creek. They all walked over to see just what he was so excited about. They found him standing by a blue, glowing circle on the ground.

"It's a... It's a... a... a... thing," Frey said. He turned to Alexander. "Alex, what would you call this... this... thing?"

***As you can probably guess by now, Frey is not the brightest color in the crayola box...**

"That," the Yuke replied, pointing to the circle, "is what is called a Hot Spot. We use them to change the element of our chalice, which is currently fire, into the element of the Hot Spot, this one in particular, being water."

"Well, why would we want to do that?" Frey asked.

"We need different elements to cross through the Miasma streams," Mathew explained with malice in his voice, "You'd know that if you picked up a book once in your life."

Frey growled and raised his racket, Mathew crouched low and raised his shield. Ashton and Moroka quickly held back the member of their own race, trying to prevent a fight.

"Please, no fighting!" Moroka said as she blocked Frey's way, "Save that for the monsters!"

"She's right," Ashton agreed, "We don't need to be fighting each other." She looked over her shoulder at Frey. "But he's right, Frey, you do need to read more."

"I can't believe you're agreeing with him on something!" Frey yelled in outrage. "He's been dissing Selkies since we met him, he threw a rock at Moroka, and he's been a complete dick this whole time!"

"But fighting about it won't get our town myrrh!" Moroka snapped.

Frey stared down at her with wide, shocked eyes and fell silent.

"I don't need a Selkie, much less a female Selkie, defending me!" Mathew yelled as he stomped away.

Nate whined worriedly, afraid for the future of their caravan.

"That's just his male pride getting in the way," Charter said as he placed a comforting hand on Moroka's shoulder, "Don't listen to him, you did the right thing."

Moroka turned her head away to hide her red face.

"Guys!" Serenity called excitedly as she ran over, "Look at what I found!"

They all turned to the Lilty as she ran up to them holding some sort of stone. Upon closer inspection, it was in the shape of a crescent moon, with swirling, curving designs carved into it.

"What is it?" Nate asked.

"Maybe it's some sort of artifact," Alexander replied as he studied the object with interest.

"We can talk about it later, lets just get moving," Ashton said as she let the group up back to the road.

They began to hear frustrated noises. As they approached the source, they found a bridge, the only way across the Miasma-tainted water, blocked by a large, thick wooden gate, with Mathew hacking at it with his sword.

"Open-god-dammit!" he grunted out between hacks.

"You mad, bro?" Alexander asked.

"Shut up!" Mathew snapped in response.

"How are we supposed to get through?" Charter asked.

"Look around, maybe there's a lever or a crank or something," Ashton said.

And so, the group spread out, yet still remaining inside the crystal's barrier, and began to search for a way to open the gate because hacking away at it didn't seem to work...They looked all around the area, behind trees and bushes, looking around the ground, even checking under rocks, but Moroka tried to inspect the gate once again. She found a small pedestal by the gate with a very familiar shape carved into it.

"Hey, Alex, can I see that stone Serenity found?" she asked.

"Sure," the Yuke replied as he handed over the stone.

"Why? You found something?" Frey asked.

"I think so," Moroka answered as she walked back over to the gate.

Everyone gathered around the Selkie as she inserted the stone into the pedestal. It was a perfect fit. They all looked up at the gate as they heard gears begin to turn and squeaky wooden wheels as the gate opened the way across the bridge.

"All right! Good job, Moroka!" Ashton cheered as she ran across the bridge.

"Good thinking," Charter smiled. Moroka blushed red again.

The group hurried across the bridge only to be stopped by Ashton.

"Wait!" she told them. "Look!"

She pointed to a clearing that was swarmed with Hedgehogs and Goblins, one of which was twice the size of Alexnder.

"Oh my god, it's HUGE!" Nate practically screamed in panic,

"That's what she said!" Frey commented.

"I should kill you just for making that joke!" Mathew yelled in anger.

"Its going to take at least three of us to bring that thing down," Alexander said.

"Do we charge on three?" Charter asked as he held up his sword.

"Alright," Ashton said, "One... Two..."

"_Die, monster vermin_!" Serenity cried as she charged in and skewered a Goblin through the stomach.

"We said on three!" Mathew yelled as he charged after her.

The others followed.

They all charged into battle. Alexander was casting spells from afar and healing the others when they needed it. Serenity was on a murderous rampage. Nate was screaming in fear and swinging around his spear in a panic, slicing up any monster that was stupid enough to get close. Ashton, Charter, and Frey were dealing with the Goblin Chieftain. Mathew was taking on two Goblins by himself. And Moroka had her hands full with a Hedgehog, beating it with her racket and evading it's spells with back flips.

When the fight was over and they surveyed the damage, they found another crescent moon-shaped stone that they figured must have gone to the other gate that was blocking their path. They placed the stone in the pedestal and watched the gate open, only to release a swarm of Mus.

"Ah!" Nate screamed as numerous Mus started to jump and climb on their clothes.

"I hate these things!" Mathew yelled as he ripped the Mus off his clothes and started to slash a the ground.

"Eeewww!" Serenity screamed in disgust.

**I am gonna end chapter 4 right here. Mostly because its pretty long compared to the other chapters and its still only halfway through River Belle Path.**

** Next chapter, they fight the Giant Crab!**

** Bye!**

** -Red**


	5. Announcement

**Hi, guys.**

**So, this is an announcement explaining why I havn't updated in months. I hope that you're all understanding people and won't flame me.**

**1. School work sucks.**

**Anyone who has had a whole packet of biology due on Monday would understand. And also since schools out for the summer I have more time to write.**

**2. My computer broke and I had to get a new one.**

**3. During my time away I also took the time to plan out my story in greater detail. **

**When i started writing I had a good idea of what I wanted to happen, but then I took time out to realy dig into it. **

**Keep in mind that i plan to have these guys go through nine years.**

_**Nine years,**_

**And that includes an average of three chapters per dungon, all of the cutscenes, towns and cities, and add time for decent character development and those weird plot twists that I had planned.**

**Its **_**a lot **_**of writing.**

**More writing than i have ever written before. ( Not on any website, but still. )**

**So thats it. Thanks for understanding.**

**I'm going to update soon, I promise.**

**-Red**


	6. Chapter 5

**Yay!**

**A whole new chapter after months of doing shit that's been keeping me from writing this!**

**Sorry!**

**Also, I've gotten some reviews saying that I should make the dungeon levels be a chapter or two longer.**

**So, why not?**

**After all, we have a whole Moogle Home to find! :3**

**Also, my new computer doesn't have spell check. So if something is spelled incorrectly, please tell me so I can fix it.**

The caravan sat on the ground, exhausted and tired after slaughtering those annoying Mus. There was easily three dozen of them, but they managed to take care of them.

"I hate Mus!" Frey huffed.

"We all do," Alexander said as he cast a cure spell on Serenity, the last of the injured members.

"Lets just get moving," Mathew said as he stood up and moved towards the opened gate.

The rest of the group followed him.

"Well, this is just great," Ashton said with sarcasm, "The bridge is out! It's a dead end!"

The caravan stared at the destroyed bridge, seemingly impossible to cross.

"The monsters must have destroyed it when caravaners first came here," Charter stated.

"Oh well, we'll just have to leave and come back some other time," Nate said as he tried to walk away.

"You're not going anywhere!" Serenity yelled, grabbing the back of her cousin's shirt collar.

"We can still cross," Moroka said.

"How?" Alexander asked, skeptically.

"When in doubt, do what the Selkies do," Frey said, "And that includes scaling walls, or in this case, bridges, to get to our goal."

And with that, Frey began to scale downwards by gripping the broken wood and hopping from one stray plank to another to get to the other side of the Miasma-tainted river.

"You can't be serious," Ashton said dryly.

"Not everyone can do back flips and scale walls like Selkies," Alexander pointed out.

"It's fine," Charter said,"Its not that far of a drop, and we can use magic to build a bridge to get across."

"That could work!" Serenity cheered happily.

Charter smailed.

"_What are you waiting for? Get moving! _"

The group jumped at the Lilty's outburst and Charter quickly cast a spell to line up the stray planks to make a bridge. Mathew just rolled his eyes.

Charter and Alexander jump down to the bridge and, being the gentlemen that they are, decided to help the girls down. Ashton strongly opposed sexist ideas, but still demanded that she be treated like a lady, leaving the boys to be constantly walking on thin ice.

Then there was Nate and Mathew.

One second, Nate was fidgeting over how he was going to get down safely.

The next, his face met bridge.

Because Mathew pushed him off.

"What?" he asked when they all looked at him angrily, "Someone had to do it."

He then jumped down and walked across the bridge. The others made sure Nate was alright before joining Frey and Mathew on the opposite bank. They climbed up the bank to find another fork in the road.

"Which way now?" Moroka asked.

"Lets see..." Frey said as he looked down both ways. "To the right we see a fuck-ton of monsters in a huge field with no chance of a surprise attack. And to the left, we see a Hedgehog and a gate."

"Gates mean there's something important, right?" Nate pointed out.

"That seems to be the case so far," Ashton agreed, "To the left way, we go."

Charter and Mathew charged at the Hedgehog, slicing it to bits in a matter of seconds. The others decided to just stay out of the way, seeing as they only had to deal with a lousy Hedgehog and a few Mus that dug their way out of the ground.

Mathew quickly sliced the Mus in half, a crescent moon shaped key falling out of one of the corpses. Charter picked it up and set it on the pedistal, causing the gate to gradually open.

Asher ran ahead excitedly, only to be let down with a fork in the road, one way being a dead end, the other being the begining of the Path.

Mathew's jaw dropped open.

"_You've gotta' be fucking kidding me!_"

**Hooray, I'm back!**

**-Red**


End file.
